Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

ABSTRACT

An apparatus includes an operation unit, a movement amount correction unit, and a display control unit. The operation unit is configured to acquire a drag operation on a display unit. The movement amount correction unit is configured to increase a movement amount of the drag operation. The display control unit is configured to control the display unit according to the increased movement amount.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/726,431, filed on Oct. 6, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/005,051, filed on Sep. 13, 2013 (now U.S. Pat.No. 9,811,252), which is the National Stage of International ApplicationNo. PCT/JP2012/002342, filed on Apr. 4, 2012, which claimed priority toJapanese Application JP 2011-096516, filed on Apr. 22, 2011, the entirecontents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus,an information processing method, and a program encoded on anon-transitory computer readable medium.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, information processing apparatuses such as a tabletpersonal computer (PC) and a smart phone have come into wide use. Toimprove operability of such an information processing apparatus, forexample, technology related to a graphical user interface (GUI)displayed on a display is being developed. As the technology related tothe GUI, technology for providing a GUI suitable for characteristics ofa touch pad used as an operation unit, and the like are well known, forexample, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature [PTL 1] JP 2011-059820A SUMMARYTechnical Problem

However, the improvement of the operability of the informationprocessing apparatus is not enough even in the technology disclosed inPatent Literature 1 or the like. According to the wide use of tabletPCs, smart phones, and the like, users have a variety of needs for theinformation processing apparatuses, and there is a demand to furtherimprove the operability in a GUI of the information processingapparatus.

Solution to Problem

Accordingly, the present invention broadly comprises an apparatus, amethod, and a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with aprogram which causes the processor to perform the method. In oneembodiment, the apparatus includes an operation unit, a movement amountcorrection unit, and a display control unit. The operation unit isconfigured to acquire a drag operation on a display unit. The movementamount correction unit is configured to increase a movement amount ofthe drag operation. The display control unit is configured to controlthe display unit according to the increased movement amount.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a firstinformation processing apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of thefirst information processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a secondinformation processing apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the secondinformation processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of thesecond information processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a first embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an application example of the firstembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the second informationprocessing apparatus to which the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which a second embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of the second informationprocessing apparatus to which the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process of the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display example of the second informationprocessing apparatus to which a third embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a process of the third embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which a fourth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which the fourth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which the fourth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which the fourth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a display example of the second informationprocessing apparatus to which the fourth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a process of the fourth embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 22 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a fifth embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which the fifth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing another display example of the firstinformation processing apparatus to which the fifth embodiment of thepresent disclosure has been applied.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a display example of the second informationprocessing apparatus to which the fifth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a process of the fifth embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a display example of an editing screenaccording to the fifth embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a sixth embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a display example of the first informationprocessing apparatus to which the sixth embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been applied.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of thesestructural elements is omitted.

Description will be given in the following order.

-   1. Examples of Information Processing Apparatus    -   1-1. First Information Processing Apparatus    -   1-2. Second Information Processing Apparatus-   2. Embodiments According to Information Processing Apparatus    -   2-1. First Embodiment    -   2-2. Second Embodiment    -   2-3. Third Embodiment    -   2-4. Fourth Embodiment    -   2-5. Fifth Embodiment    -   2-6. Sixth Embodiment-   3. Supplement

Technology according to the present disclosure may be performed, forexample, in the information processing apparatus. In the followingdescription, first, two examples of the information processing apparatusin which the technology according to the present disclosure is performedwill be described. Then, six embodiments applicable to these informationprocessing apparatuses will be described. All the embodiments areimplemented to improve the operability of a GUI of the informationprocessing apparatus. Any one embodiment may be independently applied tothe information processing apparatus and a combination of two or moreembodiments may be applied.

(1. Examples of Information Processing Apparatus According toEmbodiment)

(1-1. Example of First Information Processing Apparatus)

First, an information processing apparatus 100, which is a first exampleof the information processing apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and2. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external appearance of the informationprocessing apparatus 100. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functionalconfiguration of the information processing apparatus 100.

Referring to FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 100 has ahousing 101, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 150, and a touch pad 110provided on the LCD 150. The information processing apparatus 100 maycorrespond to both an arrangement in which the LCD 150 is horizontallylong, for example, as shown in (a), and an arrangement in which the LCD150 is vertically long, for example, as shown in (b). The informationprocessing apparatus 100 may be a tablet PC, a smart phone, or the likethat is held when used, for example, as shown in (b).

This information processing apparatus 100 acquires an operation of auser using the touch pad 110. For example, on the LCD 150, an operationicon such as a button or a bar is displayed as a GUI. The user toucheswith the touch pad 110 of a position of an icon corresponding to adesired operation using a finger or a pen. In this case, the touch pad110 may acquire an operation in which the user selects an icon. Thisoperation may be used, for example, when an application indicated by anicon displayed on the GUI is started up, or the like.

In addition, for example, the user may touch with an arbitrary positionon the LCD 150, move a finger, a pen, or the like while maintaining thetouch, and release the touch in another position on the LCD 150. In thiscase, the touch pad 110 can acquire a direction of movement of a touchposition, and an amount of movement, and the like as an operation of theuser in addition to the touch position. This operation is used, forexample, when a display of the GUI is scrolled in a specific direction,or the like.

Referring to FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 100 has thetouch pad 110, a central processing unit (CPU) 120, a storage unit 130,a communication unit 140, and the LCD 150.

The touch pad 110 is an example of an operation unit. The touch pad 110provided on the LCD 150 detects touch of the user, and acquires a touchposition, a direction in which the touch position has moved, an amountof movement, and the like as an operation of the user. The touch pad 110provides information of the acquired operation of the user to the CPU120. Although the touch pad 110 is used as the operation unit in theinformation processing apparatus 100, the example of the operation unitis not limited thereto. For example, the operation unit may be anotherpointing device such as a mouse or a pen tablet, and may be anotherinput device such as a keyboard.

The CPU 120 operates according to a program stored in the storage unit130, and controls an operation of each part of the informationprocessing apparatus 100. The CPU 120 acquires information of anoperation of the user from the touch pad 110, which is the operationunit. The CPU 120 controls a display in the LCD 150, which is a displayunit. The CPU 120 temporarily or permanently stores information to beused for processing in the storage unit 130. The CPU 120 may furthercommunicate with a network via the communication unit 140.

Here, the CPU 120 implements, for example, functions of a displaycontrol unit 121, a movement amount correction unit 122, a home screenmanagement unit 123, an object management unit 124, a view informationmanagement unit 125, and an application management unit 126.Hereinafter, the functions of these parts will be described. In additionto these parts, the CPU may implement various functions necessary tocontrol the operation of the information processing apparatus 100.

The display control unit 121 controls a display in the LCD 150, which isthe display unit. For example, the display control unit 121 causes theLCD 150 to display the GUI and vary the display of the GUI according tothe user's operation acquired by the touch pad 110.

The movement amount correction unit 122, the home screen management unit123, the object management unit 124, the view information managementunit 125, and the application management unit 126 are mainly used in theembodiments to be described later. Accordingly, when each embodiment isnot applied to the information processing apparatus 100, the CPU 120does not necessarily implement the functions of the above-describedparts. Details of the functions of the parts will be described in detailin the description of each embodiment.

Various information regarding processing of the information processingapparatus 100 is temporarily or permanently stored in the storage unit130. An example of the storage unit 130 may be a semiconductor memorysuch as a flash read only memory (ROM) or a dynamic random access memory(DRAM), an optical disc such as a blu-ray disc (BD), a digital versatiledisc (DVD), or a compact disc (CD), a hard disk drive (HDD), or thelike. The storage unit 130 may be a storage apparatus embedded in theinformation processing apparatus 100, and removable media such as amemory card attachable to or detachable from the information processingapparatus 100. In addition, the storage unit 130 may include a pluralityof types of storage apparatuses or removable media.

Here, a program to be executed by the CPU 120 is stored in the storageunit 130. The program may be pre-stored in the storage unit 130. As thisprogram, a program provided by being stored in the above-describedremovable media or a program downloaded from a network via thecommunication unit 140 may be temporarily stored in the storage unit130. Further, information exchanged by the CPU 120 with the touch pad110, the LCD 150, and the communication unit 140, information generatedby the CPU 120 in the course of processing, and the like may betemporarily stored in the storage unit 130.

The communication unit 140 is a communication interface including acommunication device for connecting to a network. An example of thecommunication unit 140 is a port or communication card for a universalserial bus (USB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 1394, a small computer system interface (SCSI), a high-definitionmultimedia interface (HDMI), a local area network (LAN), Bluetooth(registered trademark), a wireless USB (WUSB), or the like. Thecommunication unit 140 may be connected to the Internet, a home LAN, ora network for infrared communication, radio wave communication,satellite communication, or the like, and may exchange various dataregarding processing of the information processing apparatus 100. Thecommunication unit 140 may be used to download a program to be executedby the CPU 120 from the network.

The LCD 150 is an example of the display unit. The LCD 150 is controlledby the CPU 120, and displays various images including a GUI. Althoughthe LCD 150 is used as the display unit in the information processingapparatus 100, the example of the display unit is not limited thereto.For example, the display unit may be another display apparatus such asan organic electro-luminescence (EL) panel, and may be configuredseparately from the information processing apparatus.

(1-2. Example of Second Information Processing Apparatus)

Next, an information processing apparatus 200, which is the secondexample of the information processing apparatus according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, will be described with referenceto FIGS. 3 to 5. FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an externalappearance of the information processing apparatus 200. FIG. 5 is ablock diagram showing a functional configuration of the informationprocessing apparatus 200.

Referring to FIG. 3, the information processing apparatus 200 has ahousing 201, LCDs 250 a and 250 b, and touch pads 210 a and 210 b eachprovided on the LCDs 250 a and 250 b. The housing 201 has a hinge 201 h,and can be folded so that the LCDs 250 a and 250 b are on the inner sideusing the hinge 201 h as a pivot point. (a) shows a state in which thehousing 201 has been folded, and (b) shows a state in which the housing201 has been opened. The housing 201 can be folded, for example, so thatportability of the information processing apparatus 200 can be improved.The information processing apparatus 200 may be a tablet PC, a smartphone, or the like that is held when used, for example, as shown in (b).

Referring to FIG. 4, for example, the information processing apparatus200 may correspond to both an arrangement in which the LCD 210 a and theLCD 210 b are connected in a vertical direction as shown in (a), and anarrangement in which the LCD 210 a and the LCD 210 b are connected in ahorizontal direction as shown in (b). In addition, the informationprocessing apparatus 200 may be used in a state in which the housing 201is half opened as shown in (a) and (b).

This information processing apparatus 200 may acquire an operation ofthe user using GUIs displayed on the LCDs 250 a and 250 b and the touchpads 210 a and 210 b. Functions of the LCD 250 and the touch pad 210 aresubstantially the same as those of the LCD 150 and the touch pad 110described above. However, because the LCD 250 and the touch pad 210 arephysically separated into two parts, their functions may be differentfrom those of the LCD 150 and the touch pad 110. This case will bedescribed later.

Referring to FIG. 5, the information processing apparatus 200 has thetouch pads 210 a and 210 b, the CPU 120, the storage unit 130, thecommunication unit 140, and the LCDs 250 a and 250 b.

The touch pads 210 a and 210 b are examples of the operation unit. Thetouch pads 210 a and 210 b each provided on the LCDs 250 a and 250 bdetect touch of the user, and acquire a touch position, a direction inwhich the touch position has moved, or a movement amount as an operationof the user. The touch pads 210 a and 210 b each provide information ofthe acquired operation of the user to the CPU 120.

The LCDs 250 a and 250 b are examples of the display unit. The LCDs 250a and 250 b are each controlled by the CPU 120, and display variousimages including a GUI. The LCDs 250 a and 250 b may be integrally usedto display a series of images, and each may independently display aseparate image. In addition, according to display content of the LCDs250 a and 250 b, switching may be performed when either the touch pad210 a or 210 b is operable and when both are operable. For example, whenthe GUI is displayed on the LCD 250 a, the touch pad 210 a may be set tobe operable.

(2. Embodiment According to Information Processing Apparatus)

(2-1. First Embodiment)

Next, the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 6 to 10. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating anoverview of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process ofthis embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an application exampleof this embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of theinformation processing apparatus 100 to which this embodiment has beenapplied. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of theinformation processing apparatus 200 to which this embodiment has beenapplied.

In the information processing apparatus, an amount of informationcapable of being displayed on the display unit is limited. Technologyfor providing the user with more information by scrolling part or all ofa display of content in the display unit is well known. For example,there are two types in an operation of scrolling a display. One is anoperation on an operating element such as a scroll bar displayed as aGUI in a specific position on the display unit, and the other is a dragoperation at an arbitrary position on the display unit. When the displayis scrolled by the drag operation, a movement amount of the dragoperation is identical with a display scroll amount. Thereby, forexample, when the user browses an image, a document, or the like, thedisplay can be scrolled as if it was paper sliding on a desk, and a moreintuitive operation is implemented.

Incidentally, in recent years, technology for providing a plurality ofwork screens called home screens on which an icon for starting up anapplication or the like is arranged and switching a home screen to bedisplayed according to a user's desire in an information processingapparatus such as a tablet PC or a smart phone has been developed. Forexample, this technology considers providing a GUI for switching adisplay to another home screen adjacently arranged by scrolling thedisplay of the home screen in the drag operation.

As described above, scrolling by the drag operation is preferred in thatthe scrolling is implemented by an intuitive operation of the user.However, it is necessary to scroll a display of at least one home screenin order to switch the home screen. When a large scroll operation isintended by the drag operation as described above, the drag operation isiterated a number of times until a desired scroll amount is reached.Thereby, operability is likely to be degraded.

In this embodiment, there is provided novel technology for facilitatinga large scroll operation by a drag operation.

In the above-described information processing apparatus 100, theoperation unit is implemented by the touch pad 110, the movement amountcorrection unit and the display control unit are implemented by the CPU120 as the movement amount correction unit 122 and the display controlunit 121, and the display unit is implemented by the LCD 150. Amongthese, the movement amount correction unit 122 may provide the displaycontrol unit 121 with the enlarged movement amount by enlarging themovement amount of the drag operation of the user acquired by the touchpad 110. The display control unit 121 scrolls the display of the LCD 150according to the provided movement amount.

For example, the movement amount correction unit 122 enlarges themovement amount of the drag operation by multiplying the movement amountby a predetermined value n (n>1). In this case, a scroll amount for amovement amount d of the drag operation becomes nd. Alternatively, themovement amount correction unit 122 may correct the movement amount byadding a predetermined value m (m>0) to the movement amount. In thiscase, a scroll amount for the movement amount d of the drag operationbecomes m+d.

In addition, the movement amount correction unit 122 may switch whetheror not to correct the movement amount according to the user's operationor the like. This switching may be executed by an operation, forexample, such as a double-tap on the touch pad 110. In addition, whetheror not to correct the movement amount may be determined on the basis ofa type of drag operation so that the correction of the movement amountis applicable to a drag operation by multi-touch on the touch pad 110and the correction of the movement amount is inapplicable to a dragoperation by a single touch. Thereby, an operation in which the userswitches the presence/absence of a correction of the movement amount isfacilitated.

The movement amount correction unit 122 may further switch a value to beused in the correction of the movement amount. This switching may beexecuted, for example, by the display control unit 121 causing the LCD150 to display a GUI of a setting screen. For example, when the movementamount correction unit 122 corrects the movement amount bymultiplication of a predetermined value n, the predetermined value n maybe selected from among options of 2, 3, 4, . . . , or a setting screento which the predetermined value n can be directly input may beprovided. Thereby, it is possible to set a correction amount accordingto an operation feeling unique to the user.

In FIG. 6, a case of (a) in which the movement amount d of the dragoperation is consistent with the scroll amount d of the display and acase of (b) in which the scroll amount of the display enlarged bymultiplying the movement amount d of the drag operation by n becomes ndin the information processing apparatus 100 are shown. In the case ofeither (a) or (b), four home screens 500 a to 500 d are also set in theinformation processing apparatus 100. The home screens 500 a to 500 dare virtually arranged in a left-right direction, and the displaycontrol unit 121 scrolls the display of the LCD 150 in the left-rightdirection, so that the home screens 500 a to 500 d are sequentiallydisplayed. In the shown example, the home screen 500 c is displayed onthe LCD 150 in an initial state. In the case of either (a) or (b), theuser also makes touch with the touch pad 110 of a position correspondingto a position P0 on the LCD 150 with a finger, and executes the dragoperation of moving the finger in the right direction by the movementamount d while maintaining the touch.

In the case of (a), the scroll amount of the display is consistent withthe movement amount d of the drag operation. Accordingly, a position onthe screen where the finger of the user is touching after the dragoperation is the same position P0 on the screen as before the dragoperation. After the home screen 500 has virtually moved by the scrollamount d to the right by scrolling, the home screen 500 c and the homescreen 500 b are displayed on the LCD 150. This is an intermediate statein which the home screen 500 c is switched to the adjacently arrangedhome screen 500 b by scrolling. Thereafter, it is difficult to fullydisplay the home screen 500 b on the LCD 150 even when the dragoperation is further continued to the right. To display the home screen500 b or the home screen 500 a, the user needs to re-execute the dragoperation by returning the finger to the left side of the LCD 150.

On the other hand, in the case of (b), the scroll amount of the displaybecomes a value after the correction has been performed by multiplyingthe movement amount d of the drag operation by n. Accordingly, thescroll amount is larger than the movement amount of the drag operation,and the position on the screen where the finger of the user is touchingafter the drag operation becomes a position different from the positionP0 on the screen before the drag operation. After the home screen 500has virtually moved by the scroll amount nd to the right by scrolling,the home screen 500 b and the home screen 500 a are displayed on the LCD150. This is an intermediate state in which the home screen 500 c isswitched to the adjacently arranged home screen 500 b and the homescreen 500 b is further switched to the adjacently arranged home screen500 a. Thereafter, it is preferable that the user perform the dragoperation to return to the left when desiring to display the home screen500 b. In addition, it is preferable that the user continue the dragoperation to the right when desiring to display the home screen 500 a.

According to the information processing apparatus 100 related to thisembodiment, it is possible to execute a scroll operation such asswitching of a home screen in which a large scroll amount is necessarywithout iterating the drag operation a number of times. In addition, ifthe movement amount correction unit 122 can switch whether or not toenlarge the movement amount, it is possible to execute a normal scrolloperation as shown in (a), when necessary.

In FIG. 7, the example of the process according to this embodiment isshown in the flowchart. In the shown example, the movement amount of thedrag operation is enlarged by multiplication of a predetermined value n.Although an example of the information processing apparatus 100 will bedescribed in the following description, the case of the informationprocessing apparatus 200 is also similar.

First, the touch pad 110 detects a drag operation at an arbitraryposition of the LCD 150 (step S101). If the drag operation has beendetected, a movement amount of the drag operation is provided to themovement amount correction unit 122, and the movement amount correctionunit 122 determines whether or not a correction of the movement amountis applicable (step S103).

Here, if the correction of the movement amount is set to be applicable,the movement amount correction unit 122 performs the correction bymultiplying the movement amount by n (step S105). The corrected movementamount is provided from the movement amount correction unit 122 to thedisplay control unit 121. On the other hand, if the correction of themovement amount is not set to be applicable, the movement amountcorrection unit 122 provides the movement amount to the display controlunit 121 with no correction.

Next, the display control unit 121 scrolls the display of the LCD 150 bythe movement amount provided from the movement amount correction unit122 (step S107). If the correction of the movement amount by themovement amount correction unit 122 is set to be applicable, the displayof the LCD 150 is scrolled, for example, as shown in (b) of FIG. 6. Inaddition, if the correction of the movement amount by the movementamount correction unit 122 is not set to be applicable, the display ofthe LCD 150 is scrolled, for example, as shown in (a) of FIG. 6.

In FIG. 8, an example in which five home screens 500 a to 500 e are allscrolled and displayed on the LCD 150 by a drag operation from one endto the other of the LCD 150 using this embodiment is shown. The homescreens 500 a to 500 e are virtually arranged in the left-rightdirection, and the display control unit 121 scrolls the display of theLCD 150 in the left-right direction, so that the home screens 500 a to500 e are sequentially displayed on the LCD 150. In the shown example,the user touches the touch pad 110 in a position S0 of a left end of theLCD 150 with the finger as shown in (a), and executes the drag operationof moving the finger to a position S2 of a right end of the LCD 150 withthe finger as shown in (c) through a state in which the finger istouching with a position S1 around the center of the LCD as shown in(b).

At a start time of the drag operation shown in (a), the home screen 500e arranged on the farthest right among the home screens 500 is displayedon the LCD 150. At an intermediate time of the drag operation shown in(b), the home screens 500 virtually move to the right by scrolling andthe home screen 500 c arranged at the center among the home screens 500and the home screen 500 b adjacent thereto are displayed on the LCD 150.At an end time of the drag operation shown in (c), the home screens 500further virtually move to the right by scrolling and the home screen 500a arranged on the farthest left among the home screens 500 is displayedon the LCD 150.

As described above, in the shown example, the user can scroll anddisplay all five of the home screens 500 a to 500 e on the LCD 150 bythe drag operation from a left end to a right end of the LCD 150, thatis, the drag operation for one screen of the home screens 500. Thescrolling as described above is possible, for example, when the movementamount correction unit 122 corrects the movement amount of the dragoperation by multiplication of a predetermined value n, and thepredetermined value n is set to the number of home screens, that is, 5,in the shown example. In this case, the predetermined value n may be avalue obtained by adding a correction value c (0<c<1) to the number ofhome screens in consideration of variation of a position when the useris touching an end of the LCD 150. In addition, the movement amountcorrection unit 122 may automatically set the predetermined value naccording to the set number of home screens 500.

In FIG. 9, a display example of the LCD 150 while the home screen 500 isswitched by scrolling in the information processing apparatus 100 towhich this embodiment has been applied is shown. In the shown example,the home screen 500 b and the home screen 500 c are switched accordingto a motion such as a swing. As described above, the switching of thehome screen 500 by scrolling may be displayed according to variousdisplay effects. On the LCD 150, icons 501 a to 501 e indicating all thehome screens 500 a to 500 e and an icon 502 indicating an area displayedon the LCD 150 among the home screens 500 are further displayed. In theshown example, these icons have shapes that represent all the screens.

In this embodiment, because the movement amount of the drag operation isenlarged, corrected, and used as a scroll amount, the scroll amount maybe larger than the movement amount of the drag operation. In this case,as described above, the display can be more largely scrolled by the dragoperation. However, on the other hand, it may be difficult for the userto intuitively recognize the scroll amount of the display by the dragoperation as in the case where the scroll amount is consistent with themovement amount of the drag operation. That is, it may be difficult forthe user to intuitively recognize what is happening as a result ofscrolling by the drag operation, for example, which home screen 500 isbeing displayed.

In this embodiment, the display control unit 121 causes the LCD 150 todisplay the icons 501 and the icon 502. These icons are displayed sothat the user can intuitively recognize that the home screen 500 isswitched by scrolling the display in the left-right direction. Inaddition, these icons are displayed so that the user can know which ofthe home screens 500 is currently being displayed on the LCD 150. Forexample, while the touch pad 110 detects the drag operation, the displaycontrol unit 121 may display the icons 501 and the icon 502 on the LCD150. Further, in order to indicate that the home screen 500 is switchedby the drag operation, the display control unit 121 may display framesof other home screens 500 adjacent to the left and right ends of the LCD150 while the touch pad 110 detects the drag operation.

In FIG. 10, a display example of the LCDs 250 a and 250 b while the homescreen 500 is scrolled and switched in the information processingapparatus 200 to which this embodiment has been applied is shown.Although the case where this embodiment is applied to the informationprocessing apparatus 100 has been described above, this embodiment mayalso be equally applied to the information processing apparatus 200. Inthis case, the touch pads 210 a and 210 b are used instead of the touchpad 110 in the above description, and LCDs 250 a and 250 b are usedinstead of the LCD 150.

In the shown example, the LCDs 250 a and 250 b are integrally used andthe same image as in the example of FIG. 9 is displayed. That is, thehome screens 500 b and 500 c being switched, the icons 501 a to 501 eindicating all the home screens 500 a to 500 e, and the icon 502indicating a displayed area are displayed on the LCDs 250 a and 250 b.The user performs the drag operation in the left-right direction usingeither of the touch pads 210 a or 210 b, so that it is possible toscroll the display of the LCD 250 and switch the home screen 500.

The first embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above.Although an example of scrolling for switching the home screen has beendescribed, this embodiment is not limited thereto, and may be applied toany case in which the display of the display unit is scrolled. Inaddition, although an example in which the home screens are virtuallyarranged in the left-right direction has been described, this embodimentis not limited thereto, and the home screens of which left and rightends are connected may be arranged in an endless shape. In addition,although an example of scrolling in the left-right direction of thescreen has been described, this embodiment is not limited thereto andmay be applied to scrolling in an up-down direction or an obliquedirection of the screen.

(2-2. Second Embodiment)

Next, the second embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a displayexample of the information processing apparatus 100 to which thisembodiment has been applied. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a displayexample of the information processing apparatus 200 to which thisembodiment has been applied. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process ofthis embodiment.

As described above, in recent years, technology for providing aplurality of screens called home screens on which an icon for startingup an application or the like is arranged and switching a home screen tobe displayed according to a user's desire in an information processingapparatus such as a tablet PC or a smart phone has been developed. Inthis technology, an editing screen for arranging icons on the homescreen is provided as a GUI. In the editing screen, for example, a listof object icons capable of being arranged on each home screen and anicon indicating each home screen are displayed. In this case, the userdetermines an icon to be arranged on each home screen by an operation ofdragging an arbitrary icon selected from the list of icons capable ofbeing arranged to an icon indicating any home screen.

However, for example, when the user wants to arrange a number of iconson one home screen, it is troublesome for the user to perform anoperation of moving the icons to the icon indicating the home screen oneby one by the drag operation.

In addition, when the display unit is divided into a plurality of partsas in the above-described information processing apparatus 200, it isnecessary to display a list of object icons at a start point of the dragoperation and an icon of the home screen at an end point on the samedisplay unit among a plurality of divisions, and the display of theediting screen has limitations and consequently operability is likely tobe degraded.

In this embodiment, there is provided novel technology for making iteasy to optionally arrange icons in a plurality of arrangementdestinations.

For example, in this embodiment, there is provided an informationprocessing apparatus including a display control unit for causing adisplay unit to display home screen icons indicating a plurality of homescreens, object icons, which may each be arranged on the plurality ofhome screens, and a selector icon indicating selection of any one of theplurality of home screens, an operation unit for acquiring an operationof selecting the object icon or the selector icon, and a home screenmanagement unit for applying the selected object icon to any one of thehome screens indicated to be selected by the selector icon. Theoperability of a GUI of the information processing apparatus is furtherimproved.

In the above-described information processing apparatus 100, theoperation unit is implemented by the touch pad 110, the display controlunit and the home screen management unit are implemented by the CPU 120as the display control unit 121 and the home screen management unit 123,and the display unit is implemented by the LCD 150. Among these, thehome screen management unit 123 arranges an icon on the home screen onthe basis of the operation acquired by the touch pad 110. The homescreen management unit 123 stores information of the object iconarranged on each home screen set in the editing screen or the like inthe storage unit 130. In addition, when each home screen is displayed,the home screen management unit 123 reads information of the arrangementof object icons from the storage unit 130 and provides the readinformation to the display control unit 121. The display control unit121 arranges and displays the object icons on each home screen accordingto the information provided from the home screen management unit 123.

In FIG. 11, a state in which the editing screen for arranging icons onthe home screen has been displayed in the information processingapparatus 100 is shown. On the LCD 150, home screen icons 503 a to 503e, selector icons 504 a to 504 e, and object icons 511 are displayed.

The home screen icon 503 indicates the home screen 500 set in theinformation processing apparatus 100. In this embodiment, the five homescreens 500 a to 500 e are set in the information processing apparatus100. On the LCD 150, the home screen icons each corresponding to thehome screens 500 a to 500 e are displayed. For example, as shown, thehome screen icons 503 may be displayed according to visual effects asrepresented in perspective.

The selector icon 504 is displayed in a position corresponding to thehome screen icon 503, and is an icon indicating selection of any one ofthe home screens 500 a to 500 e. In the shown example, the selectoricons 504 a to 504 e are displayed in correspondence with the homescreen icons 503 a to 503 e, and the selector icon 504 c is selectedamong these. The user can select any one of the selector icons 504 a to504 e by touching the touch pad 110.

The object icons 511 may each be arranged on the home screens 500. Anexample of the object icon 511 is a widget, a shortcut to anapplication, wallpaper, or the like. When the user has selected theobject icon 511 by touching the touch pad 110, the home screenmanagement unit 123 arranges the widget or the shortcut on the homescreen 500 or changes the wallpaper of the home screen 500. The objecticon 511 may be displayed using a tab for each type, for example, asshown.

In the shown example, an object icon 511 a is selected in a state inwhich the selector icon 504 c has been selected. At this time, the homescreen management unit 123 applies the object icon 511 a to the homescreen 500 c of which selection is indicated by the selector icon 504 c.For example, if the object icon 511 a is a shortcut to an application,the home screen management unit 123 arranges the object icon 511 a onthe home screen 500 c. At this time, the display control unit 121 maydisplay a reduced icon 512 a corresponding to the object icon 511 a inthe home screen icon 503 c corresponding to the home screen 500 c.

As described above, it is possible to execute an arrangement by anoperation of selecting each object icon 511 after selecting the selectoricon 504 once without performing the drag operation on all the objecticons 511, for example, when a plurality of object icons 511 arearranged in one home screen 500, by displaying the selector icon 504,and it is possible to briefly perform the user's operation.

In FIG. 12, a state in which the editing screen for arranging an icon onthe home screen has been displayed in the information processingapparatus 200 is shown. Although the case where this embodiment isapplied to the information processing apparatus 100 has been describedabove, this embodiment may also be equally applied to the informationprocessing apparatus 200. On the LCD 250 a, the home screen icons 503 ato 503 e and the selector icons 504 a to 504 e are displayed. On the LCD250 b, the object icons 511 are displayed.

As described above, in the information processing apparatus 200, thetouch pads 210 a and 210 b each provided on the LCDs 250 a and 250 b areseparated from each other. Therefore, it is necessary to display theobject icons 511 and the home screen icons 503 together on either of theLCDs 250 a and 250 b in order to arrange the object icons 511 on thehome screen 500 by the drag operation directed to the home screen icon503. This is because the drag operation across the touch pad 210 a andthe touch pad 210 b is difficult. In this case, for example, there is apossibility that most elements of the editing screen are concentrated inone of the LCDs 250 a and 250 b and operability is degraded due to atight layout of the editing screen.

On the other hand, in the information processing apparatus 200 to whichthis embodiment has been applied, an operation for arranging the objecticons 511 on the home screen 500 is completed by an operation ofselecting the selector icons 504 and the object icons 511. Therefore, itis possible to divide and display the home screen icons 503 and theobject icons 511 on the LCDs 250 a and 250 b and display the editingscreen using the entire LCD 250. Thereby, it is possible to improveoperability by adding flexibility to the layout of the editing screen.

In FIG. 13, the example of the process according to this embodiment isshown in the flowchart. Although an example of the informationprocessing apparatus 100 will be described in the following description,the case of the information processing apparatus 200 is also similar.

First, the touch pad 110 acquires a selection operation of the user(step S201). Next, the home screen management unit 123 determineswhether or not the selector icon 504 has been selected by the selectedoperation acquired by the touch pad 110 (step S203).

Here, when the selector icon 504 is determined to have been selected,the home screen management unit 123 switches selection of a home screen500 which is an arrangement destination of the object icon 511 (stepS205). For example, if the selector icon 504 a has been selected, thehome screen management unit 123 selects the home screen 500 a as thearrangement destination. The home screen management unit 123 temporarilystores information of the home screen 500 selected as the arrangementdestination in the storage unit 130.

On the other hand, if the selector icon 504 is determined not to havebeen selected in step S203, the home screen management unit 123determines whether or not the object icon 511 has been selected by theselection operation acquired by the touch pad 110 (step S207).

Here, if the object icon 511 is determined to have been selected, thehome screen management unit 123 applies the object icon 511 selected bythe operation to the home screen 500 selected as the arrangementdestination (step S209). Here, the home screen management unit 123 readsinformation of the home screen 500 selected as the arrangementdestination stored temporarily in the storage unit 130, and addsinformation of the object icon 511 selected by the operation, forexample, the object icon 511 a in FIG. 11, as information of the objecticon 511 applied to the home screen 500.

The second embodiment of the present disclosure has been describedabove. Although an example in which the home screen icon and theselector icon are separated and displayed has been described, thisembodiment is not limited thereto and the selector icon may be displayedintegrally with the home screen icon.

(2-3. Third Embodiment)

Next, the third embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing adisplay example of the information processing apparatus 200 to whichthis second embodiment has been applied. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showinga process of this embodiment.

This embodiment may be applied to an information processing apparatushaving a plurality of separated display units and a touch pad providedas an operation unit on each display unit, like the above-describedinformation processing apparatus 200. In the information processingapparatus as described above, because the display units are separated,touch pads provided on the display units are equally separated.Therefore, it is difficult to perform a drag operation across thesetouch pads. Accordingly, it is difficult to move an icon by the dragoperation between the plurality of display units in the informationprocessing apparatus as described above.

In this embodiment, there is provided novel technology for making itpossible to perform a drag operation across a plurality of separateddisplay units.

For example, in this embodiment, there is provided an informationprocessing apparatus including a first display unit, a first touch padprovided on the first display unit, a second display unit adjacent tothe first display unit, a second touch pad provided on the seconddisplay unit and having a spacing with the first touch pad, and adisplay control unit for stopping an icon displayed on the first displayunit in a boundary portion between the first display unit and the seconddisplay unit for a predetermined time when the icon has been dragged tothe boundary portion by first touch of a user with the first touch pad,and moving the icon to a position where second touch with the seconddisplay unit has been detected when the second touch of the user withthe second touch pad has been detected for the predetermined time. Theoperability of a GUI of the information processing apparatus is furtherimproved.

In the above-described information processing apparatus 200, the firstand second display units are implemented by the LCDs 250 a and 250 b,respectively, the first and second touch pads are implemented by thetouch pads 210 a and 210 b, respectively, and the display control unitis implemented by the CPU 120 as the display control unit 121.

In FIG. 14, a state in which an editing screen for applying an icon to ahome screen has been displayed in the information processing apparatus200 is shown. On the LCD 250 a, the home screens 503 a to 503 e aredisplayed. On the LCD 250 b, the object icons 511 are displayed.

In this embodiment, the object icons 511 are applied to the home screen500 corresponding to the home screen icon 503 by the drag operationdirected to the home screen icon 503. Further, the selector icons 504 ato 504 e may be displayed on the LCD 250 a, and applications of theobject icons 511 to the home screen 500 by the same operation as in theabove-described second embodiment may be collectively provided.

In the shown example, an object icon 511 b displayed on the LCD 250 b isdragged by touch of the user with the touch pad 210 b, and moves to aboundary area 250 e between the LCD 250 b and the LCD 250 a. In thisstate, if the user has released the touch with the touch pad 210 b, theobject icon 511 b is stopped and displayed in the boundary area 250 efor a predetermined time. This is a state in which the object icon 511 bis pending between the LCD 250 b and the LCD 250 a. At this time, apending indication 521 indicating that the object icon 511 b is pendingmay be displayed. In the shown example, the pending indication 521 isdisplayed in a color different from that of a background of the LCD 250a in an edge portion of the LCD 250 a. The pending indication 521 may bedisplayed in various other forms as long as it is an indication thatnotifies the user of the fact that the object icon 511 b is pending.

As shown, the boundary area 250 e is an area set in a boundary portionbetween the LCD 250 a and the LCD 250 b. The boundary area 250 e may notbe displayed on the LCD 250. In addition, the boundary area 250 e maynot be set on both the LCD 250 a and the LCD 250 b, and may be set oneither one. For example, in the shown example, the boundary area 250 emay be set in only the LCD 250 b.

In the shown example, if the user touches the touch pad 210 a while theobject icon 511 b is stopped and displayed in the boundary area 250 efor the predetermined time, the object icon 511 b is moved to anddisplayed in a position where the user has touched the LCD 250 a. Aposition where the user touches may not be in the boundary area 250 e ofthe side of the LCD 250 a, and may be an arbitrary position on the LCD250 a. The object icon 511 b may be instantaneously moved to anddisplayed in a position where the user has touched, and may be displayedaccording to a display effect such as a moving animation. The user canperform an operation such as a continuous drag operation on the objecticon 511 b moving to the LCD 250 a.

In the information processing apparatus 200 as described above, anoperation when the user applies an arbitrary object icon 511 to anarbitrary home screen 500 is as follows. First, the user drags thearbitrary object icon 511 displayed on the LCD 250 b using the touch pad210 b, and moves the arbitrary object icon 511 to the boundary area 250e of the side of the LCD 250 b. Thereafter, if the user releases thetouch on the touch pad 210 b, the object icon 511 is stopped anddisplayed on the boundary area 250 e. From this time, if the usertouches the touch pad 210 a in an arbitrary position of the LCD 250 awithin a predetermined time, the object icon 511 moves to the positionand the drag operation is resumed. By dragging an object icon 511 to aposition of a home screen icon 503 indicating a desired home screen 500,the user applies the object icon 511 to the home screen 500.

In FIG. 15, the example of the process according to this embodiment isshown in the flowchart. Although an example in which the object icon 511moves from the LCD 250 b to the LCD 250 a in the information processingapparatus 200 will be described in the following description, the casewhere the object icon 511 reversely moves from the LCD 250 a to the LCD250 b is also similar.

First, the display control unit 121 moves the object icon 511 in the LCD250 b, which is a first screen, according to the drag operation of theuser detected by the touch pad 210 b (step S301).

When touch of the user on the touch pad 210 b has been released and thedisplay control unit 121 has ended the movement of the object icon 511,the display control unit 121 determines whether or not the object icon511 has been positioned in the boundary area 250 e (step S303). Here, ifthe object icon 511 is determined to have been positioned in theboundary area 250 e, the display control unit 121 stops the object icon511 at an end point of the movement in step S301 (step S305). At thistime, the display control unit 121 may cause the LCD 250 a or the LCD250 b to display the pending indication 521.

Next, the display control unit 121 waits for a predetermined time in astate in which the display of the object icon 511 has been stopped.During this time, the display control unit 121 determines whether or nota position on the LCD 250 a, which is a second screen, has beenspecified by touch of the user on the touch pad 210 a (step S307). Here,if the position on the LCD 250 a is determined to have been specified,the display control unit 121 moves the object icon 511 stopped anddisplayed in the boundary area 250 e to the position specified on theLCD 250 a, which is the second screen (step S309). Thereafter, the usercan continuously perform the drag operation of the object icon 511 bytouch on the touch pad 210 a.

On the other hand, if the object icon 511 is determined not to have beenpositioned in the boundary area 250 e in step S303, the display controlunit 121 returns the object icon 511 to a position before movement instep S301 (step S311). In addition, even when the position on the LCD250 a is determined not to have been specified within the predeterminedtime in step S305, the display control unit returns the object icon 511to the position before movement in step S301 (step S311). Thereafter,for example, the user initiates a new drag operation on the object icon511.

Here, the predetermined time of display in a state in which the displaycontrol unit 121 has stopped the object icon 511 may be determined, forexample, in consideration of a balance between a time necessary for itsresumption when the user desires to resume the drag operation on theobject icon 511 and a waiting time until the next operation is initiatedwhen the user does not want to resume the drag operation on the objecticon 511. In this case, if the predetermined time is short, the objecticon 511 is returned to an original position before the user resumes thedrag operation. On the other hand, if the predetermined time is toolong, a state in which the object icon 511 has been displayed in theboundary area 250 e is continued, despite a desire of the user toproceed to the next operation by stopping the drag operation. Accordingto a study for the present disclosure, an example of a predeterminedtime preferable to provide the user with comfortable operability is 1.5sec in the information processing apparatus 200.

The third embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above.Although an example of the editing screen of the home screen has beendescribed, this embodiment is not limited thereto and may be applied toall circumstances in which an icon moves between a plurality of displayunits.

(2-4. Fourth Embodiment)

Next, the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 16 to 21. FIGS. 16 to 19 are diagrams showingdisplay examples of the information processing apparatus 100 to whichthis embodiment has been applied. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a displayexample of the information processing apparatus 200 to which thisembodiment has been applied. FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a process ofthis embodiment.

In recent years, many applications have been installed in informationprocessing apparatuses such as tablet PCs or smart phones to provide theuser with many functions. A screen called a launcher screen in whichicons for starting up these applications have been arranged is provided.In the launcher screen, for example, the icons for starting up theapplications are arranged in a layout according to the user's desire,and an application is started up by the user selecting an icon.

Under such circumstances, there is a demand to further improve theoperability of a GUI so as to change an arrangement of icons in a screenin which a number of icons are arranged like the launcher screen.

In this embodiment, there is provided novel technology for facilitatinggrouping of icons to be displayed on the display unit.

For example, in this embodiment, there is provided an informationprocessing apparatus including a display control unit for causing adisplay unit to display a plurality of object icons and a separatoricon, an operation unit for acquiring an operation of moving theseparator icon between a first object icon and a second object iconamong the plurality of object icons, and an object management unit forgrouping the plurality of object icons into a group including the firstobject icon and a group including the second object icon. Theoperability of a GUI of the information processing apparatus is furtherimproved.

In the above-described information processing apparatus 100, the displaycontrol unit and the object management unit are implemented by the CPU120 as the display control unit 121 and the object management unit 124,the operation unit is implemented by the touch pad 110, and the displayunit is implemented by the LCD 150. Among these, the object managementunit 124 manages an arrangement of object icons in the launcher screen.The object management unit 124 stores information of the arrangement ofobject icons set in the launcher screen in the storage unit 130. Inaddition, when the launcher screen is displayed, the object managementunit 124 reads the information of the arrangement of object icons fromthe storage unit 130, and provides the read information to the displaycontrol unit 121. The display control unit 121 arranges and displays theicons on the launcher screen according to the information provided fromthe object management unit 124.

In FIG. 16, a state in which the launcher screen has been displayed onthe LCD 150 in the information processing apparatus 100 is shown. On theLCD 150, object icons 513 and a separator 531 are displayed.

The object icons 513 are icons for starting up applications and thelike. Although the object icons 513 may be arranged by variousconditions, for example, such as order of name, order of new arrival,and order set by the user, in the launcher screen, the object icons arearranged in the order set by the user in the shown example. The objecticons 513 configure columns arranged from left to right and rowsarranged from top to bottom on the screen. The user can change the orderof arrangement by moving the object icons 513 in the drag operationusing the touch pad 110.

The separator icon 531 is an icon for specifying a separation positionfor grouping the object icons 513. The separator icon 531 may be, forexample, an icon in which a horizontal line is drawn as shown. Theseparator icon 531 may be initially displayed in a predeterminedposition of the LCD 150 on which the launcher screen is displayed, andmoved by a drag operation of the user using the touch pad 110. In theshown example, it is assumed that the user wants to separate and groupthe object icons 513 between an object icon 513 p and an object icon 513q.

In FIG. 17, a state in which the user has moved the separator icon 531by the drag operation from the state of FIG. 16 is shown. In this case,a separation position indication 532 may be further displayed on the LCD150.

In the shown example, the separator icon 531 is moved by the dragoperation of the user, and positioned between the object icon 513 p andthe object icon 513 q. Here, if the user has ended the drag operation ofthe separator icon 531 and the position of the separator icon 531 hasbeen fixed, the object icons 513 are separated and grouped between theobject icon 513 p and the object icon 513 q. The separation positionindication 532 is displayed between the object icon 513 p and the objecticon 513 q so as to indicate its separation position. The separationposition indication 532 is displayed, so that the user can know inadvance how the object icons 513 are grouped when the drag operation ofthe separator icon 531 has ended in a current position.

In FIG. 18, a state in which the user has ended the drag operation onthe separator icon 531 by releasing touch on the touch pad 110 in thestate of FIG. 17 is shown. In this case, the separator icon 531 changesto a separator 533. The object icons 513 are grouped into an object icongroup 513 x and an object icon group 513 y by setting the separator 533to a boundary.

Here, the object icon group 513 x is a group of object icons 513arranged in order before the object icon 513 p. In addition, the objecticon group 513 y is a group of object icons 513 arranged in order afterthe object icon 513 q. A row including the object icons 513 p and 513 qis divided, so that the object icon 513 p is arranged in the end of alast row of the object icon group 513 x, and the object icon 513 q isarranged in the front of a first row of the object icon group 513 y.

The separator 533 is displayed to separate the object icon group 513 xand the object icon group 513 y. In the shown example, the separator 533extends linearly in the left-right direction. The separator 533 may havea name input field 533 n and a deletion icon 533 d. The object icons 513included in the object icon group 513 x and the object icons 513included in the object icon group 513 y may be mutually exchanged, forexample, by the drag operation. In this case, the user can move theobject icon 513 included in the object icon group 513 x to the objecticon group 513 y, or reversely move the object icon 513 included in theobject icon group 513 y to the object icon group 513 x, by the dragoperation.

The name input field 533 n is a field that is used to assign a name tothe separator 533. For example, the user assigns the name to theseparator 533 by selecting the name input field 533 n and inputtingcharacters using an on-screen keyboard displayed on the LCD 150, or thelike. The user can assign a desired name to the separator 533 by thename input field 533 n, and thus easily find a desired object icon 513,for example, in the launcher screen.

The deletion icon 533 d is a button that is used to delete the separator533. The user can delete the separator 533 by selecting the deletionicon 533 d. If the separator 533 is deleted, the arrangement of theobject icons 513 is returned to an arrangement before grouping by theindication of the separator 533. In the shown example, if the userselects the deletion icon 533 d, the arrangement of the object icons 513is returned to the arrangement shown in FIG. 16. The deletion icon 533 dis displayed so that the user can re-group the object icons 513 by aneasy operation or combine the groups of the object icons 513.

In addition, in a state in which the separator 533 has been displayed,another separator icon 531 may be further displayed. The user canfurther group the object icons 513 included in the object icon group 513x or the object icon group 513 y by moving the other separator icon 531by the drag operation.

In FIG. 19, a state in which the user touches the touch pad 110 againand selected the separator 533 in the state of FIG. 18 is shown. In thiscase, the separator 533 changes to the separator icon 531. At this time,the object icon group 513 x and the object icon group 513 y maintain thegrouped state.

As described above, the separator icon 531 may be moved by the dragoperation of the user using the touch pad 110. The user can change aseparation position of grouping of the object icons 513 by re-moving theseparator icon 531 and arranging the separator icon 531 between twoarbitrary object icons 513. In this case, the separation positionindication 532 is also displayed according to movement of the separatoricon 531, and the separator icon 531 changes to the separator 533 afterthe arrangement.

In FIG. 20, a state in which the launcher screen is displayed on the LCD250 in the information processing apparatus 200 is shown. Although thecase where this embodiment is applied to the information processingapparatus 100 has been described above, this embodiment may also beequally applied to the information processing apparatus 200. On the LCD250, the object icons 513, the separator icon 531, the separationposition indication 532, and the separator 533 are displayed. The usercan group the object icons 513 in an arbitrary separation position bymoving the separator icon 531 in the drag operation using the touch pad210 and arranging the separator icon 531 between two arbitrary objecticons 513.

In the information processing apparatus 200, because the LCD 250 and thetouch pad 210 are each divided into two parts, the separator icon 531may be stopped in a boundary portion between the LCD 250 a and the LCD250 b for a predetermined time, for example, using the above-describedthird embodiment.

In FIG. 21, the example of the process according to this embodiment isshown in the flowchart. Although an example of the informationprocessing apparatus 100 will be described in the following description,the case of the information processing apparatus 200 is also similar.

First, the object management unit 124 determines whether or not touch ofthe user on the separator icon 531 has been detected by the touch pad110 (step S401). The touch of the user on the separator icon 531 isdetected during the drag operation on the separator icon 531. That is,if the touch of the user on the separator icon 531 has been detected bythe touch pad 110, the separator icon 531 is in a state in which it ismoved by the drag operation of the user. On the other hand, if the touchof the user on the separator icon 531 has not been detected by the touchpad 110, the separator icon 531 is in a state in which it is initiallydisplayed in a predetermined position or a state in which it has beenreleased from the drag operation of the user in any position on the LCD150.

Here, if the touch of the user on the separator icon 531 is determinedto have been detected, the object management unit 124 determines whetheror not the separator icon 531 has been positioned between the objecticons 513 (step S403). Here, if the separator icon 531 is determined tohave been positioned between the object icons 513, the display controlunit 121 displays the separation position indication 532 on the LCD 150(step S405). If the separator icon 531 is determined not to have beenpositioned between the object icons 513, the display control unit 121continues display according to the drag operation on the separator icon531 without displaying the separation position indication 532.

On the other hand, if the touch of the user on the separator icon 531 isdetermined not to have been detected in step S401, the object managementunit 124 further determines whether or not the separator icon 531 hasbeen positioned between the object icons 513 (step S407). Here, if theseparator icon 531 is determined to have been positioned between theobject icons 513, the object management unit 124 groups the object icons513 so that the object icons 513 positioned on both sides of theseparator icon 531 belong to different groups (step S409). Step S409corresponds to the case where the separator icon 531 has been releasedfrom the drag operation in a valid position as a separation position ofgrouping of the object icons 513.

In addition, if the separator icon 531 is determined not to have beenpositioned between the object icons 513, the display control unit 121displays the separator icon 531 at a predetermined position on the LCD150 (step S411). Step S411 corresponds to a state in which the separatoricon 531 is initially displayed to wait for the drag operation by theuser and the case where the separator icon 531 is released from the dragoperation in an invalid position for grouping and consequently returnedto an initial display position.

The fourth embodiment of the present disclosure has been describedabove. Although an example of the launcher screen for starting up anapplication has been described, this embodiment is not limited theretoand may be applied to any case in which a plurality of icons displayedon the display unit of the information processing apparatus are grouped.

In addition, although an example of grouping in which the object iconspositioned on the left and right of the separator icon belong todifferent groups has been described, this embodiment is not limitedthereto. For example, grouping may be performed so that the object iconsabove and below the separator icon belong to different groups. Further,these cases may be switched. In this case, the separator icon may beset, for example, to be moved and rotated by the user's operation via atouch panel, and grouping may be executed by changing a separationposition in the left-right direction if a line drawn in the separatoricon is a horizontal line and in the up-down direction if the line drawnin the separator icon is a vertical line by rotation.

(2-5. Fifth Embodiment)

Next, the fifth embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 22 to 27. FIG. 22 is a diagram conceptuallyillustrating this embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a displayexample of the information processing apparatus 100 to which thisembodiment has been applied. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing anotherdisplay example of the information processing apparatus 100 to whichthis embodiment has been applied. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a displayexample of the information processing apparatus 200 to which thisembodiment has been applied. FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a process ofthis embodiment. FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a display example of anediting screen according to this embodiment.

In recent years, applications for providing the user with any contenthas been frequently installed in information processing apparatuses suchas tablet PCs or smart phones. For example, a player application forproviding music content or video content, a browser application forproviding web content, and the like are well known. In theseapplications, content capable of being provided via an application isusually updated, for example, by acquiring new content by way of anetwork.

Under such circumstances, there is a demand to further improve theoperability of a GUI for users who want to access various contentprovided via various applications.

In this embodiment, there is provided novel technology for making iteasy to access content provided via an application.

For example, in this embodiment, there is provided an informationprocessing apparatus including a view information management unit forgenerating view information including content information regarding atleast part of content provided via an application, a display controlunit for causing a display unit to display the view information, anoperation unit for acquiring an operation of a user who selects thecontent information included in the displayed view information, and anapplication management unit for starting up the application thatprovides the selected content information. The operability of a GUI ofthe information processing apparatus is further improved.

In the above-described information processing information 100, the viewinformation management unit, the display control unit, and theapplication management unit are implemented by the CPU 120 as the viewinformation management unit 125, the display control unit 121, and theapplication management unit 126, and the operation unit is implementedby the touch pad 110, and the display unit is implemented by the LCD150.

Among these, the view information management unit 125 managesinformation of a content view indicating content information regardingcontent provided by an application installed in the informationprocessing apparatus 100. The view information management unit 125stores the information of the content view in the storage unit 130. Inaddition, the view information management unit 125 may communicate withthe network via the communication unit 140 and update the information ofthe content view.

In addition, the application management unit 126 manages the applicationinstalled in the information processing apparatus 100. On the basis ofselection of content information included in a content view displayed bythe display control unit 121 on the LCD 150, the application managementunit 126 may start up an application for providing content correspondingto the content information.

In FIG. 22, (a) as an example in which this embodiment is not appliedand (b) as an example in which this embodiment is applied are shown. Ineach case, the user accesses content CTS that is provided via anapplication AP. Thus, an application selection screen 54 is displayed inthe example of (a) and a content view screen 540 is displayed in theexample of (b).

In the example of (a), the application AP is started up from theapplication selection screen 54. On a screen of the started-upapplication AP, information of the content CTS provided by theapplication AP to the user is displayed, and the user selects desiredcontent CTS from among pieces of the content CTS.

In this case, a user U does not know a type of content CTS to beprovided by the application AP if the application AP is not started up.For example, in the case of music content, it is possible to knowcurrent popular content only after the player application is started up.In addition, for example, in the case of web content, it is possible toknow whether or not bookmarked web content has been updated only after abrowser is started up.

As described above, in the example of (a), the user U starts up theapplication AP in a state in which content CTS to be provided isunknown. Therefore, even when a certain application has been started up,content CTS as a target of interest may not be found. Alternatively,even when there is content CTS that is the target of interest beingprovided by another application AP, the user U may be unaware of thepresence of content CTS because the application AP has not been startedup.

On the other hand, in the example of (b), desired content CTS isselected in the content view screen 540. According to the selection ofcontent CTS by the user, an application for providing the content CTS isstarted up.

In this case, using the content view screen 540, the user U knowscontent CTS to be provided by the application AP even when theapplication AP is not started up. For example, in the case of musiccontent, it is possible to know recent popular content even when theplayer application is not started up. In addition, for example, in thecase of web content, it is possible to know whether or not bookmarkedweb content has been updated even when the browser is not started up.

As described above, in the example of (b), using the content view screen540, the user U starts up the application AP for providing content CTSby checking the content CTS capable of being provided by the applicationAP and selecting content CTS serving as a target of interest from amongpieces of the content CTS. Therefore, the user U can easily access thecontent CTS serving as the target of interest. In addition, content CTSof various applications AP is displayed on the content view screen 540,so that the user U is likely to find unexpected new content CTS orapplications AP, for example, as when content CTS serving as a target ofinterest is provided by an unexpected application AP.

In FIG. 23, a state in which the content view screen 540 has beendisplayed in the information processing apparatus 100 is shown. Itemviews 541 a to 541 i, a feature view 543, and a setting icon 545 areincluded in the content view screen 540 displayed on the LCD 150.

The item view 541 is a view that presents content information for eachitem. The item used here is a set into which content capable of beingprovided by the information processing apparatus 100 is classified bypredetermined criteria. For example, the item may be a set into whichcontent to be provided by a certain application has been classified foreach attribute. Specifically, the item may be “bookmarked web content,”“top music content of hit chart,” or the like.

In the shown example, 9 item views 541 a to 541 i are displayed. Inthese item views, for example, content information of bookmarked webcontent, content information of music content that is ranked high in thehit chart, and the like may be displayed. Like the item views 541 f to541 i, an item view 541 to which no item is allocated may exist as ablank field. Content may be displayed by allocating items to all itemviews 541.

In addition, a new arrival icon 542 may be displayed on the item view541 if information of displayed content includes new arrival informationthat is not previously displayed. The new arrival icon 542 is displayedso that the user can easily find information of content that is notchecked.

The feature view 543 is a view that presents content in further detailin units of items. In the shown example, content information issequentially displayed one by one in the item view 541, but three piecesof content information 544 a to 544 c are displayed on the feature view543. The feature view 543 may be displayed with respect to an item view541 selected by the user or an item view 541 including new arrivalinformation among the item views 541 a to 541 i. In the shown example,the item view 541 a includes new arrival information and the featureview 543 is displayed with respect to the item view 541 a. The newarrival icon 542 may also be displayed in the content information 544 ato 544 c included in the feature view 543.

In the shown example, an application corresponding to the item view 541a is a browser application, and information of bookmarked web content isdisplayed in the content information 544 a to 544 c. Thus, if the userselects any piece of web content information displayed as the contentinformation 544 a to 544 c by touch on the touch pad 110, the browserapplication is started up, and web content indicated by the selectedcontent information 544 is displayed.

An item view 541 corresponding to the feature view 543 may be displayedaccording to a display effect such as pop-up like an item view 541 a.According to the display effect, the user can easily know the featureview 543 corresponding to a certain item view 541.

The setting icon 545 is an icon for displaying an editing screen to bedescribed later. The user selects the setting icon 545 by an operationusing the touch pad 110, so that the editing screen can be displayed andcontent of the item view 541 can be edited

In FIG. 24, another example in which the content view screen 540 hasbeen displayed in the information processing apparatus 100 is shown. Inthe shown example, the information processing apparatus 100 has the LCD150 arranged to be vertically long.

In the shown example, the item views 541 a to 541 i are displayed in alower portion of the LCD 150, and the feature view 543 is displayed inan upper portion of the LCD 150. As described above, for example, theitem views 541 and the feature view 543 may be displayed on the LCD 150in different arrangements according to a direction in which theinformation processing apparatus 100 is held.

In FIG. 25, a state in which the content view screen 540 has beendisplayed in the information processing apparatus 200 is shown. Althoughthe case where this embodiment is applied to the information processingapparatus 100 has been described above, this embodiment may also beequally applied to the information processing apparatus 200.

In content view screens 540 displayed on the LCD 250 of the informationprocessing apparatus 200, the item views 541 a to 541 h are displayed onthe LCD 250 b, and the feature view 543 is displayed on the LCD 250 a.In the example of the information processing apparatus 200, 8 item viewsdifferent from the example of the information processing apparatus 100are displayed. As described above, the number of item views 541 to bedisplayed may be appropriately changed according to an arrangement ofthe entire content view screen 540.

In FIG. 26, the example of the process in this embodiment is shown inthe flowchart. Although the example of the information processingapparatus 100 will be described in the following description, the caseof the information processing apparatus 200 is also similar.

First, the view information management unit 125 updates information of acontent view (step S501). Specifically, the view information managementunit 125 acquires content information with respect to an applicationcorresponding to each item view 541. The view information managementunit 125 arranges the content information, for example, in order ofupdate date, popularity, or the like, and extracts a predeterminednumber of pieces of content information from the front of thearrangement. For example, the predetermined number may be the number ofpieces capable of being displayed as the item view 541 or the featureview 543. The view information management unit 125 stores information ofan updated content view in the storage unit 130.

Next, the view information management unit 125 provides the informationof the updated content view to the display control unit 121, and thedisplay control unit 121 causes the LCD 150 to display the content viewscreen 540 on the basis of the information (step S503). Here, theinformation provided from the view information management unit 125 tothe display control unit 121 may include information indicating whichcontent information is new arrival information, and the display controlunit 121 may display the new arrival icon 542 on the basis of thecontent information that is the new arrival information. In addition,the feature view 543 displayed on the content view screen 540 may bedisplayed with respect to an item view 541 including the new arrivalinformation or an item view 541 of a predetermined position (forexample, upper left).

Next, the display control unit 121 determines whether or not any itemview has been selected by touch of the user on the touch pad 110 (stepS505). Here, if any item view 541 is determined to have been selected,the display control unit 121 changes content of the feature view 543 tocontent corresponding to the selected item view 541 (step S507).Thereafter, the display control unit 121 displays a content view screenincluding the changed feature view 543 (step S503).

On the other hand, if no item view 541 is determined to have beenselected in step S505, the display control unit 121 determines whetheror not any content information 544 has been selected by touch of theuser on the touch pad 110 (step S509). Here, if any content information544 is determined to have been selected, the application management unit126 starts up an application corresponding to the content of theselected content information 544 (step S511) and provides the user withthe content.

On the other hand, if no content information 544 is determined to havebeen selected in step S509, the display control unit 121 determineswhether or not the setting icon 545 has been selected by touch of theuser with the touch pad 110 (step S513). Here, if the setting icon 545is determined to have been selected, the display control unit 121displays an editing screen of a content view, and the view informationmanagement unit 125 executes an editing process of the content view(step S515). The editing process of the content view will be describedlater.

After the editing process of the content view in step S515, the viewinformation management unit 125 updates information of the content viewaccording to settings of the content view changed by the editing process(step S501). On the other hand, if the setting icon 545 is determinednot to have been selected in step S513, the display control unit 121continuously displays the content view screen 540 (step S503).

In FIG. 27, a state in which the editing screen 550 of the content viewhas been displayed in the information processing apparatus 100 is shown.In the editing screen 550 displayed on the LCD 150, the item view 541and an item list 551 are included. The editing screen 550 may also beequally displayed in the information processing apparatus 200.

As in the content view screen 540, the item views 541 are displayed.However, because the feature view 543 is not displayed on the editingscreen 550, the item views 541 may be displayed in a flat state withoutthe display effect such as pop-up. By selecting an arbitrary item view541, the user can edit an item set in the item view 541.

The item list 551 is displayed as a list of items capable of beingdisplayed on the item view 541. In the item list 551, all itemsavailable to the user may be displayed in the information processingapparatus 100. The items displayed in the item list 551 may be groupedand displayed, for example, by a type of service, an application forprovision, or the like. For example, by selecting an arbitrary item fromthe item list 551 in a state in which any item 541 has been selected,the user may set the item in the item view 541. In addition, by movingan arbitrary item of the item list 551 to an arbitrary position of theitem view 541 in the drag operation, the user may set the item in theitem view 541.

The fifth embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above.Although an example in which an item view and a feature view aredisplayed as a content view screen has been described, this embodimentis not limited thereto. For example, content information may bedisplayed on the item view and the feature view may not be displayed. Inaddition, although an example in which the item views are arranged anddisplayed in tile shapes has been described, this embodiment is notlimited thereto. For example, the item views may be arranged anddisplayed in a list form.

(2-6. Sixth Embodiment)

Next, the sixth embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 28 and 29. FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating anoverview of this embodiment. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a displayexample of the information processing apparatus 100 to which thisembodiment has been applied.

In recent years, technology for providing a plurality of work screenscalled home screens on which an icon for starting up an application orthe like is arranged and switching a home screen to be displayedaccording to a user's desire in an information processing apparatus suchas a tablet PC or a smart phone has been developed. When a plurality ofhome screens are switched and displayed, the operability of a GUI isimproved in that a shortcut or widget of a different application can beused according to a scene in which the information processing apparatusis used. However, it may be desirable to commonly display a shortcut ofan application to be frequently used or the like, for example, such as amailer or a web bookmark of a specific page, on each home screen.

In this embodiment, there is provided novel technology for making iteasy to access a high use-frequency service when a plurality of homescreens are displayed.

For example, in this embodiment, there is provided an informationprocessing apparatus including a display control unit for causing adisplay unit to display object icons arranged on a plurality of homescreens and a common display object icon arranged on a common displayarea of each home screen, an operation unit for acquiring an operationof moving the object icon to the common display area, and an objectmanagement unit for setting the object icon moved to the common displayarea to the common display object icon, wherein the display control unitautomatically uniformly arranges the object icon moved to the commondisplay area in the common display area. The operability of a GUI of theinformation processing apparatus is further improved.

In the above-described information processing information 100, thedisplay control unit, and the object management unit are implemented bythe CPU 120 as the display control unit 121 and the object managementunit 124, the operation unit is implemented by the touch pad 110, andthe display unit is implemented by the LCD 150.

Among these, the display control unit 121 causes the LCD 150 tosequentially display the plurality of home screens by scrolling or thelike. In addition, the display control unit 121 causes the commondisplay area of each home screen to display a common display objecticon.

In addition, the object management unit 124 manages information of thecommon display object icon. The object management unit 124 registers theobject icon moved to the common display area displayed on each homescreen by the user's operation using the touch pad 110 as the commonobject icon, and stores its information in the storage unit 130. Wheneach home screen is displayed, the object management unit 124 reads theinformation of the common display object icon from the storage unit 130,and provides the read information to the display control unit 121. Thedisplay control unit 121 arranges and displays the common display objecticon on each home screen according to the information provided from theobject management unit 124.

In FIG. 28, an example of home screens 500 on which object icons 511 andcommon object icons 505 are displayed is shown. In the shown example,five home screens 500 a to 500 e are set. In the home screens 500,arrangement content of the object icons 511 is different. On the otherhand, in the home screens 500, arrangement content of the common displayobject icons 505 is common. That is, although the home screen 500 c isdisplayed on the LCD 150 in the shown example, the common display objecticons 505 are displayed in substantially the same position of the LCD150 even when something to be displayed on the LCD 150 is changed to thehome screen 500 a, the home screen 500 d, or the like.

In FIG. 29, an example in which the common display object icons 505 arearranged by the drag operation using the touch pad 110 is shown. In (a),one first common display object icon 505 a is arranged in the commondisplay area 506. In (b), a common display object icon 505 b is addedand a total of two common display object icons 505 are arranged in thecommon display area 506. In (c), a common display object icon 505 c isadded and a total of three common display object icons 505 are arrangedin the common display area 506. In (d), a common display object icon 505d is added and a total of four common display object icons 505 arearranged in the common display area 506.

First, in (a), the common display object icon 505 a is added to thecommon display area 506. The display control unit 121 causes the commondisplay object icon 505 a to be displayed at the center of the commondisplay area 506.

Next, in (b), the common display object icon 505 b is added to a leftside of the common display object icon 505 a of the common display area506. The display control unit 121 moves the common display object icon505 a to a right side according to the addition, so that the commondisplay object icons 505 a and 505 b are uniformly arranged in thecommon display area 506.

Next, in (c), the common display object icon 505 c is added to the rightside of the common display object icon 505 a of the common display area506. The display control unit 121 moves the common display object icons505 a and 505 b to the left side according to the addition, so that thecommon display object icons 505 a to 505 c are uniformly arranged in thecommon display area 506.

Next, in (d), the common display object icon 505 d is added between thecommon display object icon 505 a and the common display object icon 505c of the common display area 506. According to the addition, the displaycontrol unit 121 moves the common display object icons 505 a and 505 bto the left side and further moves the common display object icon 505 cto the right side, so that the common display object icons 505 a to 505d are uniformly arranged in the common display area 506.

As described above, in this embodiment, for example, when an object icon511 is moved by the drag operation to the common display area 506 andadded to common display object icons 505, the display control unit 121automatically uniformly arranges the common display object icons 505 inthe common display area 506 after addition by adjusting an arrangementof the common display object icons 505 already present in the commondisplay area 506.

Thereby, it is possible to maintain the common display object icons 505in a state in which they are easily viewable or selectable and thusimprove the operability of a GUI of an information processing apparatusincluding the common display object icons 505.

The sixth embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above.Although the case where this embodiment is applied to the informationprocessing apparatus 100 has been described above, this embodiment mayalso be equally applied to the information processing apparatus 200. Inthis case, the touch pads 210 a and 210 b are used instead of the touchpad 110 and the LCDs 250 a and 250 b are used instead of the LCD 150.

(3. Supplement)

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.

(1) An apparatus comprising:

an operation unit configured to acquire a drag operation on a displayunit;

a movement amount correction unit configured to increase a movementamount of the drag operation; and

a display control unit configured to control the display unit accordingto the increased movement amount.

(2) The apparatus according to (1), wherein the movement amountcorrection unit increases the movement amount by multiplying themovement amount by a value greater than 1.(3) The apparatus according to (2), wherein the display control unitcontrols the display unit to display information on a plurality of homescreens, and the value greater than 1 is equal to a number of theplurality of home screens.(4) The apparatus according to any of (1) to (3), wherein the movementamount correction unit increases the movement amount by adding a valuegreater than zero to the movement amount.(5) The apparatus according to any of (1) to (4), wherein the operationunit receives a command by a user to perform a normal drag operation,the normal drag operation based on the movement amount without anyincrease.(6) The apparatus according to (2), wherein the display control unitcontrols the display unit to display information on a plurality of homescreens, and the movement amount correction unit sets the value to anumber obtained by adding a correction value c (0<c<1) to a number ofthe plurality of home screens.(7) The apparatus according to any of (1) to (5), wherein the displaycontrol unit controls the display unit to display information on aplurality of home screens, and the display control unit causes thedisplay unit to display icons indicating the plurality of home screensand a displayed part of the plurality of home screens when scrolling thedisplay in the display unit.(8) The apparatus according to (2) or (6), wherein the operation unitacquires the value from a user, and the movement amount correction unitincrease the movement amount of the drag operation based on the valuereceived by the operation unit.(9) The apparatus according to any of (1) to (8), wherein the movementamount correction unit switches whether or not to enlarge the movementamount.(10) The apparatus according to (9), wherein the operation unit acquiresa first type of drag operation and a second type of drag operation at anarbitrary position on the display unit, and the movement amountcorrection unit enlarges a movement amount of the first type of dragoperation and does not enlarge a movement amount of the second type ofdrag operation.(11) A method comprising:

acquiring a drag operation on a display unit;

increasing a movement amount of the drag operation; and

controlling the display unit according to the increased movement amount.

(12) A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a programthat, when loaded on a processor, causes the processor to perform amethod comprising:

acquiring a drag operation on a display unit;

increasing a movement amount of the drag operation; and

controlling the display unit according to the increased movement amount.

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a touch screenconfigured to detect a drag operation of a user; a display; and aprocessor configured to control the display to display at least one of aplurality of home screens on which icons for starting up applicationsare arranged, determine, from the drag operation, a movement amount forswitching among the plurality of home screens so that a scroll amount ofthe displayed home screen is consistent with the movement amount of thedrag operation, and control a scrolling among the plurality of homescreens on the display based on the determined movement amount forswitching among the plurality of home screens such that at least a partof each of the two of the home screens is displayed simultaneously,wherein the processor is configured to cause the display to displaysimultaneously a first graphical representation indicating the pluralityof home screens and a second graphical representation, the secondgraphical representation indicating a location of a home screencurrently being displayed on the display relative to the plurality ofhome screens; and wherein the first graphical representation and thesecond graphical representation are displayed on the display to besmaller than and to be outside the home screen currently being displayedon the display.
 2. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the first graphical representation and the secondgraphical representation are displayed on the display such that thesecond graphical representation is superimposed on the first graphicalrepresentation.
 3. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the first graphical representation and the secondgraphical representation are displayed on the display to be separated ina vertical direction from the home screen currently being displayed onthe display.
 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an input madeby the user on a location of the touch screen corresponding to alocation at which the first graphical representation is displayed on thedisplay; determine, from the input, which one of the plurality of homescreens should be displayed; and control the display to display thedetermined one of the plurality of home screens.
 5. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first graphicalrepresentation comprises a plurality of elements, each of the pluralityof elements representing one of the plurality of home screens.
 6. Amethod performed using an information processing apparatus comprising atouch screen configured to detect a drag operation of a user, a display,and a processor, the method comprising: controlling the display todisplay at least one of a plurality of home screens on which icons forstarting up applications are arranged, determining, from the dragoperation, a movement amount for switching among the plurality of homescreens so that a scroll amount of the displayed home screen isconsistent with the movement amount of the drag operation, andcontrolling a scrolling among the plurality of home screens on thedisplay based on the determined movement amount for switching among theplurality of home screens such that at least a part of each of the twoof the home screens is displayed simultaneously, wherein the displaydisplays simultaneously a first graphical representation indicating theplurality of home screens and a second graphical representation, thesecond graphical representation indicating a location of a home screencurrently being displayed on the display relative to the plurality ofhome screens; and wherein the first graphical representation and thesecond graphical representation are displayed on the display to besmaller than and to be outside the home screen currently being displayedon the display.
 7. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storinginstructions that, when executed on an information processing apparatuscomprising a touch screen configured to detect a drag operation of auser, a display, and a processor, control the information processingapparatus to perform a method comprising: controlling the display todisplay at least one of a plurality of home screens on which icons forstarting up applications are arranged, determining, from the dragoperation, a movement amount for switching among the plurality of homescreens so that a scroll amount of the displayed home screen isconsistent with the movement amount of the drag operation, andcontrolling a scrolling among the plurality of home screens on thedisplay based on the determined movement amount for switching among theplurality of home screens such that at least a part of each of the twoof the home screens is displayed simultaneously, wherein the displaydisplays simultaneously a first graphical representation indicating theplurality of home screens and a second graphical representation, thesecond graphical representation indicating a location of a home screencurrently being displayed on the display relative to the plurality ofhome screens; and wherein the first graphical representation and thesecond graphical representation are displayed on the display to besmaller than and to be outside the home screen currently being displayedon the display.